The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Fifth Season

The fifth season of CBS' long-running "The Incredible Hulk" "? if you can call seven episodes a season "? was not the series' best, but it was its last.

Unfortunately, the show's runners didn't know it at the time, so the final episode offers neither closure nor resolution. (That would come, disappointingly and far too later, with the 1990 telefilm "Death of the Incredible Hulk.") Instead, it offers a run-of-the-mill virus plot. None of these I would place among the series' finest hours, but fans will want them, anyway.

The bonus features are slim, but worthy. Star Bill Bixby, known for being an actor who took his craft quite seriously, shows a softer, humorous (and even mildly crude) side in a short but sweet gag reel. Better is a lengthy documentary piece about the show in general; the principals complain about the network's budgetary restrictions, which compromised their desire to deliver a cinema-quality series.

For those who've been waiting for all the seasons to be issued, I recommend forgoing the individual sets for the mammoth "The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series." With 20 discs, it contains everything the season-by-season sets do, in one handy box.